The New York Times Crossword
Jeremy Newton of Austin is a software engineer who makes mobile games. As a crossword constructor, Jeremy says he likes “wacky themes.’’
ACROSS
1 Muhammad Ali’s “Me! Whee!,’’ e.g.
5 “S.N.L.’’ alum Hartman 9 Start off on the wrong foot, maybe?
13 Contaminate
19 What may be in a star’s orbit
21 Throw with power
22 Alleviate
23 Sheep’s milk product that’s often grated
25 Classic name for the land north of England 26 Course taken in shorts, often
27 “Ya don’t say!’’
28 765-foot-long “water coaster’’ on Disney cruises
30 Countertenor
31 SWAT team or Navy SEAL group, e.g.
34 Name that sounds like two letters of the alphabet
37 Epitome of smoothness
39 “Roots’’ author Haley
40 Shocker, at times
41&44 It goes around every hour
46 Gaming novice, slangily
48 Secured skates, with “up’’
50 Float component
51 Act as a blueprint for, as DNA for proteins
53 Brawled, in the backwoods
55 “Howdy, everybody!’’
57 Withstand
58 Fly off the shelves
59 Like bread made from almond flour
61 “Oh, hell yes!’’
64 Turn red, say
65 Certain formal duds 66 Nice round number?
67 Bollywood megastar Aishwarya ____
68 “My dear man’’
71 Grammy category won multiple times by Kendrick Lamar
77 Racy selfie posted for likes on social media, in modern lingo
80 Not a problem
81 Kennel club category
82 Makeup table
83 “Dead serious!’’
85 “And, uh, that about covers it’’
86 Supporting role
87 New students at Princeton or Yale in 1969
88 There’s a famous “half’’ one in Yosemite National Park
90 Vessel protected by Hera
91 Uninteresting
92 Encouraging cry
94 Bottom
96 Saves, with “away’’
98 “Ain’t dead ____!’’
99 They often come to professors with excuses
102 Hoodwink
104 Get snake eyes, say
107 Lacking experience
108 Aligns, in a wood shop
112 Set straight
113 Oscar winner for his role as a Mexican narc in “Traffic’’
117 Price to pay, informally
118 Major piece
119 Miniature for a World War II buff
120 Were running mates?
121 Quite a jerk
122 Make an appearance
123 Recess for prayer
DOWN
1 Verve
2 It’s 50 /50
3 “That kinda stuff’’: Abbr.
4 Buckaroos
5 Mint
6 Fictional pilot with the line “You like me because I’m a scoundrel’’
7 “Here ____ again’’
8 Milk for un café
9 Onetime MTV reality series filmed near Hollywood
10 Recall regretfully
11 Auditing org.
12 Courtroom statements
13 Bone to pick
14 Lighter than lite
15 Word after soul or solid
16 “You, too?!’’ playfully
17 Smart
18 Wood that’s resistant to warping
20 Mountain chain that stretches from Kazakhstan to the Arctic
24 Do a waving motion by the ocean, say
29 “That proves it’’
32 Shade similar to verdigris
33 Distinguish oneself
34 Positioned to win
35 Shared with for quick feedback
36 Cut into
38 Region with a Unification Flag for sporting events
41 Pen pa?
42 Just hanging out
43 It really blows
45 Knucklehead
47 Flinch (at)
49 Ending for a dean’s address
50 Cable network with movies like “Sharktopus’’ and “Mansquito’’
52 Least klutzy
54 Made a boo-boo
55 “I won’t ____ it!’’
56 Pending
58 Risqué communiqué
60 Ancient home to Priam’s Treasure
62 Out of practice
63 Quick refresher
68 Visibly scornful
69 Cold that just won’t go away?
70 Superpopular
71 Gooey spread
72 Where gymnast Simone Biles won four golds
73 One-celled organism
74 Enter unannounced, in a way
75 Photog’s setting
76 Name of the girl on “Game of Thrones’’ who said “A girl has no name’’
77 Spot between programs, e.g.
78 Beehive material
79 Annual May race, informally
84 One of three characters in “M*A*S*H’’
85 Ones behind the scenes
87 Consider, with “on’’
89 High-priority item
92 Vocalist’s asset
93 Directly criticized on Twitter with an “@’’
95 Gillette razor name
97 Literature Nobelist Bellow
99 Bit of faulty logic
100 Sandwich supposedly named after low-income New Orleans workers
101 Begins a triathlon
103 Like the clue for
103-Down?
104 Teased incessantly
105 Kind of cavity
106 Hard vehicle to park
109 Telenovela, e.g.
110 Some drink dispensers
111 Extend (out)
114 Org. with lots of money to waste?
115 Order member
116 “Ver-r-ry interesting!’’